


Watch What Happens

by a_cool_username



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Abused Race, Abused Romeo, Accidental Deadnaming, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Deaf Character, Deaf Itey, I think that's it - Freeform, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jack and Spot are foster brothers, Race and Romeo are twins, Social Anxiety, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, Trans Crutchie, Trans Les, Trans Male Character, Uhm, idk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2018-12-19 15:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11900616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_cool_username/pseuds/a_cool_username
Summary: All is calm - well, as calm as possible - at H. Fierstein High. That is, until the Jacobs move to town.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Les has a rough morning. David makes a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first Newsies fic, and since this is the first chapter, I'm still getting a feel for how to write the characters, so sorry if anything is ooc.

"Les! Hurry up, we're gonna be late!" David checked his watch for the millionth time as his older sister, Sarah, called up the stairs. He really didn't want to be late for his first day at the new school. But his younger brother was still in his room, seven minutes before the bus arrived. When Les didn't respond to Sarah, David decided to take matters into his own hands.

"I'm gonna go get him." He turned and marched up the stairs to his brother's room. He knocked three times on the door. There was no response, so he walked in. He was about to start yelling about how late it was and how soon the bus would be arriving when his eyes fell on the young boy in front of the mirror, silent tears streaming down his face, arms crossed over his chest. All thoughts about time instantly vanished.

"Hey. Les. What's up?" David asked gently, although he though he already knew by the way his brother was standing. Instead of replying, Les simply turned to his David and started crying into his shoulder.

"I - what if - they might - the teachers -" the smaller boy managed between sobs. It wasn't anything close to a coherent sentence, but David knew his brother well enough to understand what he meant. _"What if the teachers use the wrong name?"_

"Hey. Hey. You emailed all your teachers, right?" Les nodded almost imperceptibly."Well, I've heard that the teachers here are really great about that stuff. I'm sure everything will be just fine. I'll meet you at the front door after school, okay?"

"Okay."

"Alright. We don't wanna be late, let's go downstairs. You can grab breakfast on the way out."

Once the two boys were downstairs, Sarah immediately launched into a lecture.

"The bus left two minutes ago! What..." she trailed off when David gave her a meaningful look, and only then did she notice Les' tear-stained face. "I'll drive."

* * *

David's English teacher, an irritable young woman whose name he couldn't seem to remember, had left the classroom for whatever reason, and David was doing his best to ignore the deafening noise of the class. He was quite honestly perplexed at how so few people could make  ~~~~ _so_ much noise.

Thankfully, after a few minutes, the teacher returned. Upon hearing the racket in the room, she said, "Thank you for staying quiet while I was out of the classroom," with sarcasm practically dripping from her voice.

Despite her obvious anger, the boy behind David said, loudly and cheerily, "You're welcome!" Try as he might, David couldn't help but laugh. He may have hated noise, but he hated the teacher even more.

"I have had enough lip from you today, Jack. One more comment like that and I'll be seeing you here after school," Ms. Something-or-other snapped.

"Oh no, not detention! Will that go on my-" Jack gave an overdramatic gasp, pretending to be scandalized, "-permanent record?" The entire class erupted into giggles.

"I am serious, Mr. Kelly."

Jack quieted down, but David still heard him mumble, "Oh,  _serious_ , is she." 

* * *

After math, the last class of the day, David half-walked, half-ran down the hallway, not wanting to leave Les waiting outside the middle school, which was just across the street, for too long. However, he stopped abruptly when he heard someone yell "Oi! New Kid!"

Davey slowly turned around to see who was calling him, but didn't walk any closer to the source of the noise. He'd been "New Kid" enough times to know what was probably about to happen, and he wanted to be able to make a quick getaway in case it did. He had enough bruises from his previous school, and he most certainly didn't want any more. So when someone ran up to his side, he almost started to flee, but someone caught his sleeve. "Damn, New Kid, chill, I don't bite. Usually."

"Oh. Uh, sorry. Jack, right?" He felt a blush crawl up his cheeks at his reaction. He had wanted Jack to be his friend, he seemed nice, but now Jack probably hated him, god, he was so stupid, why did he have to be so damn awkward and jumpy all the time, this was why he didn't have friends-

"Yeah, Jack. You's David, right?" 

"Y-yeah David. I mean, uh, yeah, that's me. I mean, uh, sorry, I-"

"Well, Davey, I was wonderin' if you wanted ta come hang out with me an' the fellas. We's gonna come back ta my place and watch a movie." No way could he do that. Not now, at least. He'd screw it up  _for sure_. Luckily, he had an excuse.

"Oh, um, I can't, I, uh, have to go get my little brother. He goes to, uh, Menken. Maybe, um, maybe another time though?"

"Well, how's about I give you my number and we can make plans for another time? I think the guys would like you."

"Oh, um, okay. Yeah, sure," David mumbled, handing Jack his phone. After a few moments of rapid clicking, Jack handed it back, then ran off and disappeared into a group of rowdy boys. David's hands were still shaking as he glanced at the text he just got.

 **lester.the.jester:** be here asap please

Well, that couldn't be good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you like this? Should I continue?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm literal trash who never uploads oops also I felt bad about how long it's been so I wrote this all in like three hours and didn't edit it oooooooooooooops
> 
> Also thsi chapter is really really short oOOOOOOOPS

**David.Jacobs:** I'm on my way.

 **David.Jacobs:** What's wrong?

 **David.Jacobs:** Les?

 **David.Jacobs:** Les please answer you're scaring me.

 _Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod_ was all that David could think as he practically sprinted the two blocks to Les's school.  _Is he okay? Did he get hurt? Oh my god what if he's dead?_

No. Nope. He wasn't going to go down that road. Les was probably just tired, then his phone died, or something. Yeah. That made sense. It's fine. He's fine. Everything is totally fine and no one is dead.

 _But how do you know?_ the little voice in his head whispered. God how he hated that stupid voice.

He started running faster.

 

* * *

 

 "Les?" David called into the crowd of chattering middle schoolers. He didn't see his brother anywhere. With a growing panic in his chest, he circled the building a couple times, still not seeing Les, and he was beginning to think about calling the police. But on his third lap around the building, he finally spotted a shoe that looked suspiciously like the younger boy's sitting next to the dumpster out back.

"Les?" No response.

"Les are you here?" Nothing. David was starting to panic again.

"Les this isn't funny." Tears started to build in the corners of his eyes, but he blinked them away. Crying wouldn't do anyone any good right now.

"Les. Please." His voice wavered, but David still refused to let the tears fall. He was so caught up in his panic and trying not to cry that he almost missed the quiet groan. His head snapped up. "Les?" He tried again.

"David." The voice sounded like it was coming from the dumpster. David stepped up on a conveniently placed chair, and peered over the metal rim, into the piles of trash and broken things, and the tears in his eyes finally spilled over.

"Les. Oh my god." David half whispered, half sobbed. There was Les, his brother, his _baby_ brother, lying in a dumpster, with a split lip and a black eye and a bruise blooming across the side of his face and ripped clothes and his arm bent at an awkward angle, like it was broken. "Oh my  _god._ "

 

* * *

 

"What... what happened?" Les was now sitting on his older brother's bed, holding a bag of ice to his swollen eye. His arm hadn't been broken, thank god, but he had some pretty nasty bruises and cuts scattered across his body, plus the split lip, all of which David had cleaned and bandaged after slowly helping Les limp home.

"I dunno, really. One of my teachers used the wrong name, and a guess a couple of assholes put the pieces together, and... yeah." Les tried to keep himself together, but David could see his hands shaking.

"Did you see who it was?" David managed to keep his cool outwardly, or at least he hoped he did, but internally, he was shaking with rage. He was going to beat those little douchebags into the ground, age be damned, the little gremlins deserved it for  _daring_ to lay a hand on his brother.

"Yeah, kinda. I don't remember their names though. Why?"

"You should tell a teacher."

"I... I dunno. I don't wanna, like, make a fuss. Also, it's not like I have any proof. They'd probably just brush it off." David thought about pushing it, but Les could be pretty stubborn when he made up his mind. Also, he had a good point. They'd both seen firsthand how dismissive teachers could be, especially with a new kid.  _He's a wild card,_ David had once heard a teacher say as he was leaving.  _You simply don't know. He could very well be lying._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE HAPPY I PROMISE PLEASE DON'T HATE ME
> 
> Also in case anyone was wondering (which you probably weren't because I'm probably the only one who overanalyzes my own writing and finds every single trivial problem) I did adjust the ages so that Les and the rest of the newsies would be closer in age. In this story, Les is like, twelve or thirteen, the rest of the newsies plus Kathrine are sixteen, and sarah is seventeen.


End file.
